Impact o Government Policies on Business Free Sample for Students

Question: Discuss how Government Policies, Rules and Laws Impacts Business. Answer: Background The taxicab industry has been one of the dominating modes of transportation in cities around the globe. The taxi industry has been in a beneficial stage as there was no competition in the for-hire transportation industry until recently. The major challenge, which the taxi industry is facing today, is the evolution of the ride-sharing applications. The ride-sharing companies such as Uber, Lyft operates by using a smart phone, which allows the customers to send a trip request and the request is forwarded to the cab drivers. Since the inception of the ride-sharing companies, Uber has achieved substantial market share in the United States and all over the world. Uber Technologies Inc. is an American International transportation network company with its headquarters situated in San Francisco, California. The company operates through the Uber mobile app, which allows the customers to book a trip, and the trip request is sent to the cab drivers. The service is available in 300 cities and in 58 countries all over the world. an essential distinction between the taxi cab and Uber is that the later does not operate its own vehicles but works with licensed drivers. Consequently, Uber has become the most favored transport provider much to the discontentment of the taxi industries. However, the legality of Uber has become a subject of debate and has been challenged by the taxi companies as well as the governments (Gambiza and Pinto 2016). Legalization of Uber in Australia Ride sharing is the use of the underutilized private cars for the purpose of providing rides. It is actually carpooling that have been in existence for several years (Minifie and Wiltshire 2016). The Uber app enables ridesharing by connecting technology with private individuals. The major characteristics of this riding industry are flexibility, transparency and safety. The transport regulations are already familiar with the difference between the various forms of passenger transport providers. For instance, taxicabs provide advance booking and on-demand ride facilities but the underlying principle of the taxi regulations is subject to safety and economic risks on the rank hails and the streets. Whereas, ridesharing companies does not operate on the streets or the rank hails neither it provides any advance booking facilities. It operates exclusively on-demand and ready to ride (Dosen and Rosolen 2016). The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) It was the first jurisdiction that has legalized ride-sharing companies even against the opposition of the taxi industry in the Act and in other states on the country. The New South Wales The NSW government has also declared that Uber would be legalized and the taxi license plate owners shall be compensated. NSW introduced the Point to Point Transport (Taxis and Hire Vehicles) Bill 2016 in the NSW Legislative Assembly. South Australia The SA government has allowed Uber to operate in SA and the taxi drivers shall be compensated with the sum of $3000. Tasmania The Tasmanian government has introduced legislation allowing Uber a temporary grant to operate in Tasmania subject to the condition that it passes all the public safety tests that is considered as a hire car service under the Tasmanian Law. This would enable the government to review the hire car and taxi legislation; meanwhile, the taxi license holders shall be compensated. Western Australia Uber would be legalized with a new license category following a reduction in the costs of the license and the regulations governing the taxi-operators and the government has announced to compensate the taxi drivers as well. Queensland The government is unwilling to regulate Uber in Queensland. The Taxi Council Queensland (TCQ) declared an anti-Uber media campaign warning the Uber passengers that ride share apps are and not safe therefore by using them they are putting their life in danger. An online parliamentary petition was also initiated by the TCQ ensuring that Uber remains to be unlawful in Queensland. Victoria The Victorian Taxi service Commission have issued infringement notices to Uber and warned the public from using ridesharing apps. The state has not yet legalized Uber as the state officers are of the opinion that they would review the Transport Act of the state. Reasons why Uber should be legalized in all over Australia Uber is a safe transport provider Uber asserts that there are are several procedures and system whi h are undertaken to ensure the safety of the customers. The drivers are checked before they are allowed to operate an Uber cab. Uber is advantageous for the passengers It asserts that the customers are provided with numerous advantages. One of the advantages is most of the rides are cost-effective and most of the rides are available comparably at lower costs. The price rates of taxis is much higher than Uber rides. Another advantage associated with riding share companies is that the company contacts private drivers who use their own vehicles and this is an advantage for the commuters as well. Uber emphasizes that since the drivers are local drivers so they are familiar with the areas they dwell and as a result of which they are able to drop to or pick the passengers from their selected destinations (McGregor, Brow and Glss 2015). Uber offered compensation to the taxi license holders Uber claimed that the taxi license holders who consider the riding share companies to be major and unfair competition to their industry shall be duly compensated (Carranza et al.2016). Uber is advantageous for the car-owner/drivers An Uber driver enjoys independence as for the most part there is nobody to tell them what to do. The drivers may work as much or as little as they want to work. They are also allowed to turn on the phone or the mobile app while they are working and turn it off as well. The drivers can earn more money through surge pricing that is on public holidays they can charge an increased fare, thus giving the drivers an opportunity to increase their income. This way it acknowledges the public that they are available even at times when there is a high demand for cabs. The taxi operation and ownership is exploitative an inefficient it has been claimed that the conventional mode of taxi operation is that the taxi drivers were more concerned about maintaining their monopoly and the profit of the industry than improving the service provided to the customers (Sun and Edara 2015). Reasons why Uber must not be legalized It provides an unfair competition to the taxi industry the taxi industry has been facing a significant challenge after the evolution of the Uber Company. The taxi industry claimed that Uber charges are lower because they do not have to bear additional operating expenses like the conventional taxis. The reason behind it is that Uber does not pay taxes and is not complying with the existing regulatory procedures. Moreover, it has an adverse impact on the income of the taxi drivers. Uber pays minimal tax the company has been subject to criticisms for minimizing its tax payments to the government of Australia. The company receives only 20 to 25 percent of the fare amount received by the drivers. The critics are of the opinion that the company is operating profitably because of the infrastructure, in particular, the roads, which is maintained by the Australian government. Therefore, the company has been suggested to pay GST in order to operate its mobile app. Uber provides insecure service to commuters the Uber Company has been alleged to provide inadequate redress to commuters who sustain injury or any form of harm. The company demands sudden hike in the surge pricing at not only the times of high demand but also at times when the commuters are facing life-endangering hazards (Goel, Kulik and Ramamohanarao 2016). The drivers are not adequately trained- since the procedure to become an Uber driver is easy therefore, those who drive an Uber cab are often not adequately trained and the company does not properly monitor the vehicles (Aissat and Oulamara 2015). Legal implications of the Taxi Industry The key distinction between Uber and Taxi is that ride sharing is usually not licensed and the vehicles used are private cars. The regulations that governed the taxi industry are now placing the industry at a disadvantageous position after the evolution of the ride sharing. When Uber was legalized in NSW, the Transport and Infrastructure Minister asserted that the reforms in the legislation are expected to wide-open the doors of innovation which enables the consumers with facilities such as tracking the driver, providing feedback directly and allowing the customers to select from the affordable pricing points (Chassin and Msaid 2016). However, with the change in the technology and legislations, the legislation regulating the Taxi industry have remained the same. Although there exists major concern regarding the safety and security of the Uber companies but the Government must not penalize the company or regulate the companies strictly for applying modern technology (Feeney and compan ies Uber 2015). The government instead should make necessary attempts to revise the outdated regulations or legislations that fit better in the contemporary world. The income of the taxi drivers have been affected due to the Uber like ride sharing companies. The compensation proposed to be provided to the taxi drivers by the government is inadequate for the drivers. They are of the opinion that hundreds and thousands of taxi owners have retired on the existing income rate and now their asset is no more worthy. They argued that the government has allowed and legalized a foreign company who despite making minimal tax payments to the government, is welcomed only because it is providing more options to the customers (Burgess et al. 2016). The adverse effect of the ride sharing companies on the income of the taxi drivers is devastating. The taxi drivers are criticizing the government stating that it has permitted to legalize Uber and accept minimum annual fees and in addition, providing lenient rules on registration and insurance is highly unfair to the taxi drivers. Therefore, the taxi drivers are left with only hail and rank work and instant booki ng, which would reduce their income even more. Conclusion The Chief Executive Office Australian Taxi Industry Association has asserted that the taxis are more secure and offer greater protection than the Uber Company. He stated that taxis have two or three GPS devices which is hard-wired into their systems as well as a security camera which the taxi drivers cannot disable. The system and the procedure followed by the taxi drivers are known and the company can trace the vehicle. Further, the company conducts a medical test on the drivers to ensure that the drivers are competent to operate the vehicle. Registered medical practitioners examine the mental and physical fitness of the taxi drivers to ensure their competency to drive a commercial vehicle examine the drivers. The taxi industry assures the safety of the commuters (Witt, Suzor and Wikstrm 2015). It can be conceded that Uber drivers are generally independent contractors. However, the Fair Work Commission made a controversial ruling in Dick v Voros (2013) where it agreed that taxi drivers are generally independent contractors but the commission noted that the taxi drivers could be treated as employees in cases of unfair dismissal. In the recent past individuals working for Uber Company have initiated numerous suits and the courts in many jurisdictions have had an uphill battle determining whether the drivers are employee or independent contractors. It bears noting that some jurisdictions like Canada have held Uber drivers to be employees rather than independent contractors. Uber drivers are considered as independent contractors and not an employee (Kent and Dowling 2016). They are never considered eligible for the benefits that are usually enjoyed by a full time employee in a secured job. The ACT secretary has also criticized the exploitation of the Uber drivers. However, the evolution of the ride sharing apps has taken the taxi industry by storm. The success of Uber demonstrates that an under supplied market exists in Australia which has been resolved to a certain extent because of the innovation that has taken place in the for-hire transportation. The taxi industry and the ride sharing companies claims to be better than the other but both the industries have their own advantages and disadvantages. The taxi industry and the share riding companies both must consider the fact that being for-hire transport providers, it is highly imperative that the safety of the commuters remain to be their primary concern, thus providing an efficient transportation system to the general public. References Aissat, K. and Oulamara, A., 2015, January. Meeting Locations in Real-Time Ridesharing Problem: A Buckets Approach. InInternational Conference on Operations Research and Enterprise Systems(pp. 71-92). Springer International Publishing. Burgess, J.E., Matamoros-Fernandez, A., Suzor, N.P. and Wikstrom, P., 2016. 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